The  Committee  for  Christian  Relief 
in  France  and  Belgium 

is  conducting 

An  Interchurch  Campaign 
for  Protestant  Relief  in 
France  and  Belgium 

$3,000,000  Needed 


Why  this  money  is  essential  at  the  present  time. 

Appeal  of  the  French  Churches. 

History  of  the  relations  between  the  French  and 
Belgian  and  American  Protestant  Churches. 

The  $3,000,000  Budget. 


CAMPAIGN  COMMITTEE 

Chairman:  William  Sloane  Coffin 
Vice-Chairman:  Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke 
Campaign  Director:  George  O.  Tamblyn 
Campaign  Advisor:  Charles  S.  Ward 
Treasurer:  Alfred  R.  Kimball 

HEADQUARTERS  ARE  AT  289  FOURTH  AVENUE 


APPEAL  OF  FRENCH  CHURCHES 


N  NOVEMBER^,  1917^  the  United  Protestant  Churches  of  France 
sent  to  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America 
an  urgent  appeal  for  sympathy  and  material  help.  “In  all  the 
devastated  regions  of  France  and  Belgium  there  are  Protestant 
communities.  The  invasion  has  literally  martyred  them.  How 
shall  we  meet  the  call  to  repair  breeches,  restore  ruins,  rebuild 

_ _  churches  and  presbyteries,  assure  the  salaries  of  pastors — salaries 

the  devastated  regions  will  for  a  long  time  be  unable  to  furnish?  How 
shall  we  aid  the  mutilated,  the  widows  and  orphans,  enable  families  to  get  upon 
their  feet,  reorganize  homes  that  have  been  sacked,  cultivate  the  devastated  fields? 
We  should  need  to  count  upon  about  two  million  dollars  in  order  to  provide  for 
immediate  needs  and  for  the  repair  of  material  damage.  A  further  sum  approxi¬ 
mating  the  above  would  be  necessary  to  assure  to  the  churches  and  to  our  work  of 
evangelization  a  fund  from  which  their  impoverished  budgets  might  find  supple¬ 
mentary  subsidies.” 


French  and  Belgian  Clergy  Visit  America 

This  appeal  did  not  fall  on  deaf  ears.  As  a  result  of  repeated  visits  to 
America  of  eminent  representatives  of  French  and  Belgian  Protestant  Churches 
during  the  war,  an  increasing  knowledge  and  understanding  of  the  work  of  these 
churches  had  grown  up  in  America.  M.  Stuart  L.  Roussel,  of  the  Evangelical 
Reformed  Church  of  France,  Dr.  Henri  Anet,  of  the  Belgian  Missionary  Church, 
Captains  Georges  Lauga  and  Victor  Monod,  of  the  French  Army  and  Navy 
respectively,  the  last  named  official  delegates  of  the  I1  rench  Protestant  Churches, 
traveled  extensively  in  America  and  opened  up  innumerable  sympathetic  contacts 
with  American  churchmen  and  laymen.  In  turn  prominent  American  churchmen 
of  every  denomination  visited  France  and  Belgium. 


Formation  of  American  and  French  Committees  for  Co-operation 

These  contacts  bore  fruit  on  January  7,  1918,  in  the  formation  of  the  Com¬ 
mittee  for  Christian  Relief  in  France  and  Belgium,  whose  purpose  was  to  unite  all 
American  Protestants  interested  in  the  cause  of  Protestantism  in  France  and 
Belgium  to  consider  the  most  effective  means  of  permanent  co-operation  and  help 
between  the  churches  of  the  three  countries.  In  response  to  this  action  the  French 
Federation  of  Churches  immediately  took  steps  to  form  a  similar  committee  in 
Paris  under  the  title  of  the  Comite  D’Union  Protestante,  on  which  all  French 
Protestant  Churches  and  organizations  are  represented.  The  first  action  of  this 
committee  was  to  send  to  the  American  committee  the  following  words  of  greeting: 
“We  have  heard  with  deep  thankfulness  that  the  principle  of  a  general  appeal  to 
your  churches  has  been  voted,  and  that  you  have  been  the  means  of  such  a  momentous 
step,  which,  apart  from  its  encouragement  to  us,  brings  the  glad  prophecy  of  a 
better  union  and  co-operation  between  sister  churches.” 

Since  that  time  the  Comite  D’Union  Protestante  has  directed  all  measures 
for  the  relief  of  French  and  Belgian  congregations.  Through  an  affiliated  com¬ 
mittee  called  the  Comite  D’Entr’Aide  it  has  investigated  needs,  received  requests, 
estimated  losses,  and  distributed  funds  received  from  America  and  other  sources. 
It  is  presided  over  by  M.  Edouard  Gruner,  President  of  the  French  Federation 
of  Churches,  and  its  Vice-Presidents  are  M.  Cornelis  de  Witt  and  M.  Andre  Weiss 

of  the  Institute. 

The  Wallace  Lodge  Conference 

In  the  summer  of  1918,  at  the  invitation  of  the  French  Protestant  Churches 
and  as  the  guest  of  the  French  Government,  Dr.  Charles  S.  Marfarland,  Secretary 
of  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  made  an  extended 
trip  to  France,  where  he  was  enthusiastically  welcomed,  and  accorded  every  facility 


for  a  thorough  and  comprehensive  study  of  French  and  Belgian  Protestantism. 
His  conclusions  were  embodied  in  a  report  presented  on  October  23,  1918,  to  a 
“Joint  Conference  of  American  Agencies”  held  at  Wallace  Lodge,  Yonkers,  New 
York,  “to  consider  the  question  of  uniting  all  the  American  religious  agencies 
interested  in  France  and  Belgium  in  a  comprehensive  program  for  the  relief  and 
reconstruction  of  the  Protestant  forces  of  the  war-stricken  countries  of  France 
and  Belgium.” 

Represented  at  the  Conference  were  delegates  from  the  various  churches  at 
work  in  France,  or  having  related  work  there,  including  the  Lutheran,  the  Baptist, 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  and  the  churches  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Alli¬ 
ance;  the  American  McAll  Association;  the  Administrative  Committee  of  the  Federal 
Council,  and  the  Committee  for  Christian  Relief  in  France  and  Belgium. 

Among  the  most  important  recommendations  made  by  this  Conference  were: 
(1)  That  immediate  relief  be  given  to  the  Protestant  Churches  of  France  and 
Belgium  to  the  extent  of  $300,000,  and  (2)  that  all  Protestant  denominations  be 
approached  with  a  request  to  make  provision,  in  addition  to  its  own  work  or  related 
work  in  France  and  Belgium,  for  the  general  work  of  the  Protestant  Churches  of 
these  countries.  Previous  to  the  Conference  about  $175,000  had  been  collected 
and  sent  to  France  through  the  Committee  for  Christian  Relief  in  France  and 
Belgium,  on  which  all  the  organizations  present  at  the  Conference  are  represented; 
$188,910.11  of  the  $300,000  voted  for  emergency  war  relief  had  been  received  by 
the  Committee  up  to  May  1 4,  1919. 

$3,000,000  Campaign  Voted 

On  January  7,  1919,  the  need  became  so  great  that  the  committee  recom¬ 
mended  that  $3,000,000  be  raised  during  1919  for  the  support  of  these  churches. 
It  has  appointed  a  campaign  committee  to  take  charge  of  the  raising  of  this  sum, 
and  to  forcibly  present  to  the  American  people  the  challenge  and  needs  of  French 
and  Belgian  Protestantism.  This  Campaign  Committee,  which  has  been  organized 
under  Mr.  G.  O.  Tamblyn  as  Director  and  Mr.  Charles  S.  Ward  as  advisor,  has 
set  up  headquarters  at  289  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

How  the  Three  Million  Is  to  Be  Raised 

The  reconstruction  committees  of  each  of  the  co-operating  denominations  are 
receiving  definite  apportionments  as  to  the  amount  needed  and  a  liberal  response 
is  planned.  But  the  war  has  resulted  in  such  great  personal  benefits  that  the 
committee  feel  that  every  Protestant  should  be  given  a  personal  opportunity  to 
show  his  appreciation  of  the  heroic  part  which  French  and  Belgian  brothers  of 
our  faith  have  played  in  the  great  war.  Urgent  appeals  have  also  come  on  behalf 
of  the  Sunday  Schools  and  it  is  hoped  that  every  Protestant  Sunday  School  in 
America  will  take  at  least  one  offering  for  the  Protestant  Sunday  Schools  “over 
there.”  Some  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  and  Epworth  Leagues  have  also  shown 
a  direct  interest  in  raising  the  money.  The  three  million  will  therefore  be  raised 
by  the  denominations  direct,  by  gifts  from  individuals  appealed  to  at  Easter  and 
Memorial  Day,  and  by  contributions  from  Sunday  Schools  and  young  people’s 
societies. 

Why  This  Appeal  Is  Made  Now 

The  American  people  have  contributed  and  contributed  liberally  to  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Red  Cross,  Armenian  and  Syrian  Relief,  Fatherless  Children 
of  France,  the  Victory  Loan,  and  innumerable  other  good  causes.  Almost  everyone 
can  be  excused  for  feeling  that  he  has  already  given  to  the  very  limit  of  his  capacity. 
Nevertheless  the  claim  of  the  suffering  Protestants  of  France  and  Belgium  can 
not  be  neglected.  Their  needs  are  immediate.  Returning  refugees  can  not  wait  two 
or  three  years  to  be  fed  and  clothed.  Pastors  can  not  be  allowed  to  starve  until 
their  ruined  congregations  can  afford  to  pay  their  salaries.  The  disorganized  church 
life  of  these  people  must  be  restored  at  once  if  spiritual  leadership  is  to  keep  pace 


with  material  reconstruction.  A  dollar  now  is  worth  three  times  the  amount  three 
years  from  now.  Protestantism  must  not  be  allowed  to  die  out  in  the  land  of  the 
Huguenots. 

Budget  $3,000,000  Fund  for  Relief  of  French 
and  Belgian  Protestants 

COMITE  D’ENTRE’AIDE  .  $1,350,000 

“This,”  according  to  Rev.  Chauncey  Goodrich,  Pastor  of  the  American  Church 
in  Paris,  “is  an  admirably  organized  and  vigorously  directed  relief  organization 
representing  all  Protestant  bodies  and  designed  to  help  in  the  relief  and  rehabilitation 
of  the  Protestant  families,  with  emergency  help  to  churches  within  certain  limits. 
Temporary  repairs  to  make  slightly  injured  churches  fit  for  service  are  undertaken. 
Pastors  and  people  are  being  helped  to  get  together  and  to  become  re-established 
in  communities  and  congregations  and  get  other  church  services  started  again.” 
There  is  distinct  need  of  this  help  coming  through  Protestant  channels.  Other 
funds  have  often  been  distributed  through  organizations  on  which  Protestants  had 
no  representation  whatsoever. 

RESTORATION  OF  CHURCHES  AND  MANSES.  .  .  .  $300,000 

This  is  a  minimum  allotment.  Dr.  Goodrich  writes  of  this  need  as  follows : 
“The  question  of  church  edifices  will  be  taken  up  when  immediate  relief  is  less 
urgent.  This  question  also  is  somewhat  complicated  bv  the  fact  that  congregations 
have  a  right  ultimately  to  receive  compensation  through  the  Government  for  build¬ 
ings  destroyed.  Such  compensation  will  come  too  late  to  be  of  immediate  use,  and 
it  will  probably  never  do  more  than  cover  partially  the  expense  of  reconstruction. 
At  a  guess  I  should  say  that  the  value  of  the  buildings  destroyed,  according  to 
appraisement  before  the  war,  will  not  more  than  half  cover  the  cost  of  erection 
now.  Some  help  must  be  had  from  America  for  this,  and  attention  will  be  given 
to  this  side  of  the  matter  as  soon  as  the  more  crying  needs  are  met.” 

The  statement  issued  by  the  United  Protestant  Committee  of  the  French  and 
Belgian  Churches  of  the  cost  of  the  damage  done  the  church  buildings  accompanies 
this  report.  Chaplain  Daniel  Couve,  of  the  59th  Division  of  the  French  Army,  who 
is  well  known  to  American  Churchmen  of  all  denominations,  estimates  the  total 
destruction  at  $600,000  in  the  light  of  current  prices. 

EMERGENCY  RELIEF  OF  PASTORS .  $150,000 

In  regard  to  this  Dr.  Goodrich  writes  as  follows: 

“In  view  of  war  conditions  French  pastors  are  pitiably  underpaid  to-day. 
The  street  sweepers  of  France  receive  4,000  frs.  a  year,  and  are  agitating  for 
an  increase  to  5,000  frs.  Being  organized,  they  have  been  able  to  make  their 
demands  effective  at  a  time  when  the  Government  is  anxious  to  avoid  all  occasions 
for  social  unrest.  French  pastors  and  Belgian  pastors  on  the  other  hand  receive 
an  average  salary  of  less  than  3,000  frs.  I  have  been  told  by  a  well-informed 
pastor  that  the  average  is  2,500  frs.,  but  I  have  not  proved  this  by  consulting 
actual  figures.  The  French  Protestant  church  is  not  to  be  blamed  for  this.  The  lay 
members  are  waking  up  to  the  situation,  as  they  are  regarding  a  somewhat 
similar  situation  in  America,  and  they  are  trying  to  do  their  utmost. 
The  financial  burden,  however,  on  the  Protestants  of  stricken  France  is  very  heavy. 
It  is  fitting  that  help  from  America  should  be  used  in  part  to  relieve  the  desperate 
situation  of  the  pastors.  On  every  side  government  officials  are  receiving  special 
additions  to  their  salaries  in  view  of  the  extraordinary  cost  of  living,  and  something 
must  be  done  for  the  pastors  as  leaders  of  the  Protestant  church.  In  this  the  French 
are  trying  to  do  their  share  but  they  will  welcome  help  also  from  America.  You 
can  imagine  the  difficulty  of  living  on  a  small  salary  in  a  country  where  in  not 
a  few  cities  butter  cost  $1.75  a  pound  and  meat  anywhere  from  a  dollar  to  a  dollar 
and  a  half  a  pound.” 


Protestant  Chaplain  in  Chief  Blomaert  of  the  Belgian  Army  remarks:  “The 
salaries  of  Belgian  ministers,  which  were  scandalously  insufficient  during  the  war, 
appear  ridiculous  in  face  of  the  needs  of  the  future.” 

The  French  Protestant  Committee  during  the  last  month  proposed  to  raise 
the  salary  of  every  French  pastor  by  2,000  frs.  It  is,  however,  almost  certain  that 
in  their  present  condition  French  Protestants  themselves  will  not  be  able  to  raise 
this  sum.  Besides  this,  there  will  be  many  ministers  and  missionaries  returning 
broken  and  crippled,  whose  usefulness  wall  only  be  ragained  by  a  long  period  of 
repose  or  special  treatment  undisturbed  by  financial  anxiety. 

THE  WORK  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.. .  $300,000 

It  is  a  fact  that  French  Missionary  societies  alone  are  qualified,  under  present 

conditions,  to  occupy  some  of  the  world’s  most  important  unoccupied  fields,  those 

which  are  French  colonies.  In  Asia  there  is  the  whole  of  French  Indo-China, 

with  twenty  million  inhabitants.  In  Africa  are  French  Guinea,  the  Ivory  Coast, 

Dahomey,  the  greater  part  of  the  French  Congo,  by  itself  nearly  three  times  as 

large  as  France,  and  above  all  the  Sudan,  where  the  final  conflict  between  the 

Crescent  and  the  Cross  is  to  be  decided.  These  African  colonies  contain  more  than 

thirty  million  inhabitants,  making  a  total  of  fifty  million  subjects  of  France  who 

are  still  waiting  for  the  Gospel.  The  door  is  wide  open  to  French  missions,  and 

since  the  Protestant  Missionarv  Societies  of  America  and  Great  Britain  are  in  most 

«/ 

cases  debarred  from  these  fields,  it  is  an  especial  opportunity  to  come  forward  with 
help  for  those  who  occupy  them.  The  French  Foreign  Missionary  societies  have 
been  sustained  by  special  gifts  during  the  war,  but  their  finances  are  terribly 
crippled,  and  the  work  cannot  be  carried  on  effectively  without  outside  support. 

HOME  MISSIONS  .  $300,000 

Chaplain  Daniel  Couve  says:  “The  great  need  of  France,  in  my  opinion,  is 
to  make  French  Christianity  Democratic  and  French  Democracy  Christian.  Pro¬ 
testantism,  through  its  history  and  tradition,  is  peculiarly  fitted  for  this  task.  The 
French  people  are  more  open  than  before  the  war  to  a  religious  appeal.  There 
are  20,000,000  Frenchmen  not  vitally  connected  with  any  religious  organization 
many  of  whom  have  been  moved  by  the  beneficent  activities  of  such  religious 
organizations  as  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  to  a  greater  respect  and  interest 
than  ever  before  in  religion.  It  is  to  those  that  Protestantism  has  a  unique  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  appeal. 

This  appeal  can  be  most  effectively  made  by  strengthening  such  interdenom¬ 
inational  organizations  as  the  Central  Evangelical  Society,  which  for  years  has 
been  conducting  evangelical  work,  especially  among  the  working  population  of  the 
industrial  North,  which  has  been  extremely  successful  in  winning  over  the  French 
working  people  to  Christianity.  Men’s  and  women’s  clubs,  boy  scouts,  debating 
societies,  temperance  societies  and  social  work  of  every  kind  have  been  successfully 
carried  out  by  its  missions. 

If  the  present  unique  opportunity  to  fill  the  need  of  the  French  working  men 
for  the  acceptance  of  Christ  is  to  be  taken  advantage  of,  the  work  of  this  organiza¬ 
tion  and  similar  organizations  in  other  parts  of  France  must  be  strengthened. 

RE-EDUCATING  WOUNDED  SOLDIERS .  $100,000 

There  are  2,000,000  wounded  and  disabled  French  soldiers.  In  the  city  of 
Nantes  a  branch  of  the  McAll  Mission,  directed  by  Emmanuel  Chastand,  is  re¬ 
educating  these  wounded  men,  in  order  to  make  them  self  supporting.  Pastor 
Chastand  has  a  genius  for  training  men  who  have  lost  one  or  more  limbs.  Sub¬ 
stitutes  for  hands,  arms  and  legs  are  designed  by  the  Director  and  manufactured 
by  the  men. 

Watch  making,  wooden  shoes,  carpentry,  tinsmith  work,  auto  mechanics, 
metal  pulling,  mechanical  drawing,  metal  turning,  tailoring,  and  painting  and 


decoration  are  undertaken.  So  great  is  the  proficiency  of  the  wounded  men  that 
they  were  frequently  employed  by  the  A.  E.  F.  at  Nantes  to  repair  their  autos  and 
remake  uniforms. 

Note. — This  work  is  in  part  subsidized  by  the  French  Government,  but  is 
also  partly  dependent  for  maintenance  and  development  on  outside  support.  No 
more  essential  work  is  being  done  in  the  world  to-day. 

ASYLUMS  AND  ORPHANAGES .  $100,000 

Many  will  be  the  widows  and  fatherless  children  of  ministers,  evangelists  and 
missionaries  not  actually  killed  in  battle  and  therefore  not  entitled  to  pensions  from 
the  state,  who  must  he  cared  for  by  the  church.  The  Sanatorium  Gaspard  de  Coligny 
for  tubercular  patients  in  the  South  of  France,  John  Bost  Homes  for  every 
kind  of  crippled  and  defective  persons,  the  orphanage  which  is  conducted  at  Uccle 
by  the  Belgian  Protestant  Church,  all  these  organizations  need  support  for  the 
work  of  restoring  as  far  as  possible  the  health  of  cripples  and  physical  wrecks. 

ANNA  HAMILTON  HOSPITAL  .  $250,000 

The  Anna  Hamilton  Hospital  at  Bordeaux  is  the  only  scientific  school  for 
nursing  in  France.  It  is  directed  by  Dr.  Hamilton,  who  is  known  as  the  Florence 
Nightingale  of  France.  Dr.  Hamilton,  since  1900,  has  been  endeavoring  to  intro¬ 
duce  the  principle  of  efficient  nursing  by  women  into  the  French  Hospitals.  She 
has  been  bitterly  criticized  by  Roman  Catholics,  by  Protestants,  by  the  French 
Red  Cross  and  existing  nursing  schools.  However,  she  became  and  still  is  resident 
Doctor  and  Directress  of  the  nursing  school.  Dr.  Hamilton,  during  the  war,  turned 
her  hospital  into  a  hospital  for  the  wounded  which  equalled  the  best  British  hospitals 
in  cleanliness,  comfort  and  good  nursing.  Furthermore,  she  has  turned  out  first- 
class  nurses.  In  1914  a  friend  bequeathed  to  the  hospital  a  beautiful  house  of 
sixteen  acres,  with  a  farm  and  flowers  and  fruit  trees  to  be  used  for  a  much 
enlarged  hospital  school.  On  account  of  the  war  this  work  had  to  be  halted. 
It  is  essential  for  the  welfare  of  France  that  it  be  set  in  motion  again.  The 
professional  value  of  the  school  is  inestimable.  Mrs.  Bedford  Fenwick,  the  greatest 
living  nursing  expert,  remarks:  “The  work  is  a  wonderful  educational  work  and 
it  would  be  of  the  greatest  benefit  as  a  standard  of  nursing  in  France.  The  school 
should  not  only  be  extended,  but  imitated  in  other  localities,  and  we  imagine  no 
greater  work  connected  with  reconstruction  than  the  provision  of  thoroughly  qualified 
French  nurses.” 

There  is  another,  almost  more  important  side  of  this  hospital  work.  Child 
life  in  France  has  suffered  beyond  measure  during  the  past  five  years.  War 
conditions  have  robbed  the  children  of  necessary  food,  clothing,  schooling,  housing, 
medical  attention,  and  parental  love  and  care,  with  the  awful  result  that  children 
have  died  by  thousands.  A  report  made  by  the  Surgeon  General  of  the  Bordeaux 
district  shows  the  increasing  mortality  among  very  young  children  as  the  War 
continued:  1914,  25  per  cent.;  1915,  35  per  cent.;  1916,  66  per  cent.;  1917,  81 
per  cent.  The  slaughter  of  the  innocents  is  more  alarming  than  the  slaughter  of  the 

soldiers. 

These  conditions  among  children  must  be  improved  at  once  if  France  is  to 
regain  her  population  and  recover  her  former  strength.  The  Protestant  Hospital 
is  giving  special  attention  to  children’s  needs  and  is  caring  for  children  with  marked 
success.  Its  resources  are  limited,  however.  By  aiding  it  with  increased  funds 
this  institution  could  become  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  France  in  restoring  normal 
conditions  among  children.  One  of  the  most  promising  features  of  this  hospital 
work  is  in  its  School  of  Nurses  in  which  carefully  selected  young  women  are  trained 
with  special  reference  to  conserving  child  life.  These  nurses  visit  homes  and 
teach  parents  how  to  improve  conditions  and  how  properly  and  scientifically  to 
care  for  the  child.  The  demand  for  these  Community  Nurses  is  far  beyond  the 
capacity  of  the  School  to  supply.  The  School  s  capacity  should  be  increased  at 
once  tenfold  or  more.  These  trained  nurses  for  children  should  be  sent  into  every 
city,  town,  village  and  countryside  of  France. 


The  management  of  this  hospital  is  such  as  to  readily  lend  itself  to  co-operation. 
At  present  every  Protestant  pastor  of  Bordeaux  is  by  reason  of  his  office  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Managers.  The  Managers  will  also  welcome  representation  in 
the  Board  from  any  considerable  body  or  organization  that  wishes  to  eo-operate. 
This  seems  like  a  providential  opening  to  Protestantism  to  aid  in  the  most  needed 
and  most  promising  work  of  reconstruction. 

EDUCATIONAL  AND  SOCIAL  WORK,  SCHOOLS  IN  IN¬ 
VADED  REGIONS,  SEMINARIES,  SUNDAY  SCHOOLS  $200,000 

(The  seminaries  at  Montauban  and  Paris  will  receive  special  attention.) 
SCHOLARSHIPS  FOR  FRENCH  AND  BELGIAN  STU¬ 
DENTS  IN  AMERICAN  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARIES  $50,000 

SPECIAL  SUPPORT  FOR  BELGIUM .  $100,000 

(In  addition  to  her  share  of  the  above  items.) 

This  to  be  employed  in  numerous  ways.  Chaplain  Blommaert,  who  has  just 
arrived  in  this  country  suggests  as  great  needs:  First — A  school  for  evangelists 
in  order  to  train  native  Belgians  to  undertake  the  duties  of  pastors,  which  have 
been  largely  in  Swiss  hands,  and  to  educate  Belgian  Protestant  laymen  who  have 
not  had  sufficient  culture  to  become  efficient  evangelists. 

Second — To  create  the  office  of  General  Secretary  of  all  the  Belgian  Protestant 
Churches  to  organize  their  activities,  to  promote  social  welfare,  to  see  to  it  that 
duplication  is  avoided,  to  plan  out  a  statesmanlike  program  for  development  and 
to  further  church  unity. 

TOTAL  .  . . .  $3,200,000 

If  additional  funds  are  forthcoming,  another  work  of  great  value  is: 

THE  RELIGIOUS  PRESS  .  $100,000 

The  religious  press  both  of  France  and  Belgium  is  an  indispensable  agency 
for  promoting  the  growth  of  Protestantism.  The  French  Protestant  press  is  of  a 
very  high  standard,  but  at  present  the  editors  can  not  afford  to  use  good  paper 
and  attractive  type.  One  of  the  causes  for  which  Chaplain  Leo  of  the  Alpine 
Chasseurs  has  come  to  America  is  to  obtain  financial  support  for  a  Journal  of 
Social  Christianity,  to  develop  the  possibilities  of  social  work  in  connection  with 
churches  in  France. 

NOTE. — All  sums  not  disbursed  by  the  Comite  D’Entr  Aide  will  be  dis¬ 
tributed  by  the  United  Committee  of  the  French  and  Belgian  Protestant 
Churches  whose  high  standing  is  testified  to  by  Dr.  Goodrich  and  Messrs. 
Guy  and  de  Billy,  of  the  French  High  Commission  of  New  York.  The  Budget 
is  based  on  reports  made  by  Dr.  Chauncey  Goodrich,  pastor  of  the  American 
Church  at  Paris,  M.  Andre  Monod,  Secretary  of  the  United  Protestant  Committee 
of  French  and  Belgian  Churches,  Rev.  Chas.  S.  Macfarland,  Secretary  of  the 
Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  Chaplains  Daniel  Couve 
and  Albert  Leo,  of  the  French  Army,  Chaplain  in  Chief  Blommaert  and  Dr.  Henri 
Anet,  of  Belgium,  and  others. 


Protestant  Churches,  Places  of  Worship  and  Mission  Halls 
Destroyed  or  Damaged  During  the  War 

Estimated  Loss  on 
Pre-War  Basis 

METZERAL  (Alsace)  Church  greatly  damaged .  $6,000 

THANN  (Alsace)  Church  damaged  . 

NANC\  Methodist  Chapel  damaged  by  bomb,  October, 

1914  . 

Reformed  Church  and  Manse  damaged  by  380 

mm.  shells  . 40,000 

VERDUN  Church  bombarded  .  8,000 

RHEIMS  Church,  Manse,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building,  hit  by 

shells  and  destroyed  by  fire,  September, 

1914  .  100,000 

Protestant  School  .  10,000 

SOISSONS  Church  destroyed  by  shells  on  Christmas  Eve, 

1915  .  4,000 

CHAUNY  Baptist  Church  greatly  damaged .  4,000 

TERGNIER  (Aisne)  Mission  Hall  and  Evangelist’s  lodgings,  de¬ 
stroyed  .  9  000 

TEMPLEUX  LE 

GUNERARD  (Somme)  Church  and  Manse  destroyed .  14,000 

NAUROY  (Aisne)  Church  and  Manse  destroyed .  14,000 

JEANCOURT  (Aisne)  Church  and  Manse  destroyed .  14,000 

HARGICOURT  (Aisne)  Church,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Manse  destroyed .  20,000 

SAINT  QUENTIN  Large  Church,  built  1615,  and  other  buildings 

destroyed  .  40,000 

POMMERY  Old-age  Asylum  and  Castle,  serving  as  a  house 

of  rest,  property  of  Reformed  Church  in 

St.  Quentin,  destroyed  .  12,000 

LENS  Baptist  Church  destroyed,  Reformed  Church 

and  Manse,  destroyed  .  9,200 

LIEVIN  Reformed  Church,  Manse  and  Hall  destroyed  9,600 

VALINCOURT  Church  occupied  by  German  troops  who  burnt 

pulpit  and  other  fixtures .  4,000 

DOUAI  Church  damaged  by  explosion  early  in  1915. 

LILLE  Church  and  Manse  damaged  by  explosion  earlv 

in  1915,  repaired  . 

EPERNAY  Church  greatly  damaged .  3,000 

TROISSY  Church  greatly  damaged .  6,000 

MONNEAUX  Church  greatly  damaged .  6,000 

COMPIEGNE  Church  greatly  damaged .  4,000 

FRESNOY  Church  greatly  damaged .  4,000 

LAON  (Aisne)  Church  damaged  .  1,000 

FIENIN  LIETARD  Church,  Manse  and  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Hall  damaged  2,300 

ANICHE  (Nord)  Church  damaged  .  500 

SIN  LE  NOBLE  (Nord)  Church,  Manse,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Flail  damaged..  2,200 

SAINT  JUST 

EN  CHAUSSEE  Church  and  Manse  damaged .  10,000 

DORIGNIES  (Nord)  Church  damaged  .  3,000 

TOURCOING  (Nord)  Church  and  Manse  damaged .  10,000 

MALTBEGE  (Nord)  Church  damaged  .  6,000 


Total 


$367,800 


